Ken Mehlman, who during his eight-year stint as RNC Chair and Bush campaign manager encouraged the religious right-wing to oppose gays, enabled the Republicans on a state level to put anti-LGBT referenda on the ballot to boost the GOP's Evangelical voter turn-out, and allowed Bush to say he would veto ENDA, tells the Big Think:
"I do hope the Republican Party in the future, will look in the mirror and leaders in the party will think about where we stand and say, 'You know what? The party of Lincoln ought to be about letting adults who love each other to be married.' And the party of Lincoln ought to be about giving people more personal freedom. And the party of Lincoln, frankly, ought to be about encouraging the community that is built when two people who love each other decide they're going to spend their whole lives together. And that requires people to look in the mirror and it requires people in the past who haven't been on that side, to think about where they want to be on this issue."
To my knowledge, Mehlman has expressed regret for coming out as late as he did, but has never publicly apologized to the gay community for his actions.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…
